First Choice
by MichaelaTheUchiha
Summary: Crossroads of Destiny AU. Zuko was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai, but he cared for his people more than he cared for himself and that changed his destiny. A What If: Zuko thought that the best way to save his people was to join the Avatar? One-Shot


_First Choice_

The Avatar was glaring at him.

Zuko, never one to back down, glared back as he tried to read the emotions in the Avatar's stance and eyes. It wasn't a fearful anger, and the fact that he wasn't enough of an opponent for the Avatar to fear him raged him deep in his pride, and it was not a defensive anger as well. He seemed...jealous? But why would the Avatar be jealous of him? He was Prince Zuko, the banished Prince, doomed to forever roam the lands until he brought the Avatar back to his father, away from his people.

"Aang, I knew you would come," the waterbender, Katara, said happily before hugging the Avatar again.

"Uncle, I don't understand. What are you doing with the Avatar?" Zuko pointed to the Avatar.

"Saving you, that's what," the Avatar said as snidely as he could manage.

The insult-!

Without knowing it, Zuko took a step closer to the Avatar, but Uncle stopped him.

"Zuko, it's time we talked," said Uncle, before glancing at the waterbender and the Avatar. "Go help your other friends. We'll catch up with you."

Zuko stared at Uncle confusedly, therefore missing the fact that the waterbender had glanced back at him before she and the Avatar had walked away. "Why, Uncle?"

"You're not the man you used to be, Zuko. You are stronger and wiser and freer than you have ever been. And now you have come to the crossroads of your destiny. It's time for you to choose. It's time for you to choose good," stated Uncle seriously.

Good? Which good did he mean? The good of our nation or-

Zuko's eyes narrowed as he realised what Uncle had meant. The good of the world, which would mean betraying his father, the Fire Lord. It would mean helping the Avatar kill his father and stopping the war from continuing. Despite everything that his father had done for him, Zuko still hoped with all of his heart that his father would accept him as his son, but he knew that the war were hurting people, hurting people who were kind enough to help two travellers from dying of disease and a teenager who loved tea and could possibly love him as well. There were some Earth Kingdom people who were cruel and rude, but the Fire Nation, no matter how much he loved his people, were not exempt from having those people as well. The war was hurting everyone, even the Fire Nation. He knew the Avatar, knew that the Avatar would never kill on purpose, but he also knew of the power the Avatar had within himself, the monster that he unleashed upon his people at the Northern Water Tribe, the monster that had downed his soldiers.

And what better way would it be to stop more of his people from dying than to choose "good" and join the Avatar?

Zuko was pulled from his thoughts when crystals grew to encase Uncle. He assumed a fighting position to prepare for the intruders; no one would hurt Uncle if he was there and he watched Azula and two of the Dai Li slide down from the sides of the chamber.

"I expected this kind of treachery from Uncle," stated Azula. Zuko gritted his teeth and stood in front of Uncle, waiting to protect him, even from his little sister. "But Zuko, _Prince_ Zuko, you're a lot of things but you're not a traitor, are you?"

_Azula always lies, Azula always lies, Azula always lies._

"Release him immediately," growled Zuko, glaring at his sister.

"It's not too late for you, Zuko," purred Azula. "You can still redeem yourself."

"The kind of redemption she offers is not for you," stated Uncle to Zuko.

"Why don't you let_ him_ decide, Uncle?" rebuked Azula before speaking to Zuko. "I need you, Zuko. I've plotted every move of this day-" Azula made a fist, "-this glorious day in Fire Nation history, and the only way we win is together. At the end of this day, you will have your honour back. You will have Father's love. You will have everything you want."

Zuko could barely hear Uncle's protests and didn't react to Azula and the Dai Li leaving. What if he could have it all? What he wanted? His father's love, his nation back, but what would be the price? What would he have to give up in order for this glorious gift?

_Azula always lies._

Zuko took in a deep breath. There were things more important than his father's approval, things even more important than Uncle and that was the lives of his countrymen. How could be a great Crown Prince if he did not think of his people first? His people need him and he knew where he needed to be in order to help his people. He let the breath out.

Making his choice, Zuko turned around and broke the crystal holding his Uncle captive.

"You chose good," Uncle said warmly, smiling proudly at Zuko.

Zuko bowed his head and ran after Azula, his Uncle following behind him.

No, he didn't choose the good that his Uncle spoke of. He was a Crown Prince of the Fire Nation, son of Ursa and Fire Lord Ozai. He chose for the good of the Fire Nation. And that would always be his first choice.

**A/N: I know that this is a concept that has been thought of before, Zuko choosing to side with Aang in the Crossroads of Destiny, but I'm not sure if this had ever been the reason for the change (but, then again, I don't read many Crossroads of Destiny AUs). But I think it would be interesting to think of. How would season three, everything, change if Zuko and Iroh were to join the gAang? They, most likely, would never be able to hide within the Fire Nation, Zuko and Iroh's faces are too well-known and Zuko is banished which means he would most likely be executed if he's found on Fire Nation soil, which would mean that Katara would probably never learn bloodbending, which means it would die with Hama, which also means that Yakone may have never known bloodbending and the whole mess with Korra might have never happened. Also, how would the invasion change? Would Zuko clash with the gAang because the invasion would, most likely, kill his people? Would Zuko accept this and understand that this is war and that people will die no matter what, or would he leave the gAang and bring information about the invasion to his father, a more in-depth, current version of the plan that Azula might not have been able to give him or would he be killed just for stepping on Fire Nation soil? There are so many ways that the story could go from here and it's interesting to think about. **

**Alas, I am a poor writer and this will probably stay as an one-shot. I'm sure that there are other Crossroads of Destiny AUs that would be much better than mine ever would. Go read those. **


End file.
